


This Is My Dad/Big Brother, The Fire Lord

by CarlsRightEye21



Series: Aoi, The Royal Big Brother [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 5+1 Things, Aoi Live AU, Aoi steps up to be a big brother/dad to all these random kids, But it's 8+1 instead, Child Neglect, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, these kids need an adult
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:41:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25047037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarlsRightEye21/pseuds/CarlsRightEye21
Summary: Aoi has claimed guardianship over eight children despite the oldest being sixteen and the youngest being twelve. With the lot that he looks after, he’s needed very often.Or, eight times Aoi stepped up to be a brother/dad to the kids who need him and the one time they came together to help him.
Series: Aoi, The Royal Big Brother [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1782784
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43





	1. Aang

“Uh… Aoi?” Aang hovers cautiously in the doorway of Aoi’s office. “Can I talk to you?”

Aoi paused the letter he was composing. “Of course, Aang. Come in and take a seat.”

Aang enters, shuffling over and taking a seat tentatively. He was quiet so Aoi lets Aang sit and gather his thoughts. 

“On our most recent trip, we stopped by a small village,” Aang starts quietly. His fingers twist the fabric on his pants. “They… they were mad at me. As the Avatar. They blamed me for disappearing and their suffering.”

Aoi listens when Aang pauses, his breath hitching. 

“They said that I wasn’t fit to be the Avatar. That my guardian would have been ashamed of me,” Aang lets out a sniffle, eyes still firmly trained on his lap. “Would Master Gyatso really be ashamed? I’m trying to be the best but I’m only twelve!” 

Aoi stands and makes his way to the crying boy. He kneels by the chair and placed a hand onto Aang’s knee. 

“I do not know Master Gyatso but you are incredible. You are doing the absolute best you can with the current circumstances,” Aoi raised Aang’s chin so that he could look at him. “I am glad to have gotten to get to know you. Do not listen to fools like them.”

“What if they’re right?” Aang’s voice is incredibly tiny. 

“When I was younger, I was told that my parents were lucky they were dead so that they didn’t have to see the failure that their son had become. Do you think they were right?” Aoi asked and Aang is startled by the question. 

“No, that’s a horrible thing to say,” Aang breathed out. “You’re a great Fire Lord. I’m sure they would be proud.”

“It was a horrible thing. And it is a horrible thing to tell you that your guardian would be ashamed of you. You are a great Avatar and although I do not know Master Gyatso, I am sure that he would be proud of you too,” Aoi promised, accepting the boy when Aang slumps forward into his hold. “It’s alright to cry.”

Aang falls into wails, his hands leaving his pants to curl his fingers into Aoi’s robes. Aoi holds the boy closely, rocking him gently like he did when Zuko was younger. 

Aang seems to gather himself up, biting his wobbly lower lip as he pulls himself from Aoi’s grip. 

“I’m sorry for crying on you,” Aang tells him, his voice hitching. “I’m okay now.”

Aoi reached up to grab Aang’s chin and pull the boy’s head to look at him. Aoi’s face is serious. “Do not lie to me. That is one thing that I will not tolerate.”

Aang worried his lip between his teeth as he thinks. “How am I supposed to be a good Avatar if I cry about everything?”

“You’re twelve,” Aoi corrected softly. 

“Toph doesn’t cry,” Aang doesn’t move when a traitorous tear slips by and careened down his cheek. 

“Of course she does. Everybody cries,” Aoi let go of Aang’s chin and instead held the boy by his shoulders. “I cry too.”

“But you’re the Fire Lord,” Aang protests and Aoi sees no sense in that argument. 

“So?” Aoi asked. “Does me being the Fire Lord mean that I suddenly don’t have the capability to feel sadness?”

“No, I just--” Aang struggles to correct his statement. 

“Do not be afraid to feel things, Aang. When you stop yourself from feeling things then you start to go over the edge because you don’t know when to stop,” Aoi squeezed Aang’s shoulders. “If you want to be sad then you can cry. If you want to be angry then yell. But don’t try to shove those emotions away because you don’t think you deserve to feel them.”

Aoi stands and wrapped an arm around Aang’s shoulder. “Come.”

Aoi takes Aang through the palace until they reach the palace’s temple. 

“Do you know who that is?” Aoi stops at the base of a statue that stood at twelve feet tall. 

“That’s… Avatar Roku,” Aang looked confused. “I thought that the Fire Nation didn’t like the Avatar.”

“Do you know the story of Avatar Roku?” Aoi looked down at Aang. 

“Master Gyatso told me a little,” Aang admits, looking up at Aoi. “He was friends with Roku when he was learning Airbending.”

“After Avatar Roku mastered the four elements, he attempted to master the Avatar state,” Aoi looked up at the statue. “It is said that one must have complete peace itself. Avatar Roku struggled and eventually forced himself into the Avatar state.”

“How did he do that?” Aang inquired. 

“He used the winter solstice sun,” Aoi replied gently. “He succeeded in going into the Avatar state but his emotions were at war. He was not at peace. He was unable to control himself and destroyed half of the Fire Temple and caused the eruption of a nearby volcano.”

Aang leans into Aoi’s side, staring up at the statue with wide eyes. 

“His teacher was able to pull him from the Avatar state and stop the destruction but the damage was done,” Aoi continued his story. “He rebuilt the temple and carved underground passages for the magma to travel through. He had learned his lesson. He learned to be patient with himself and understand his emotions in order to be completely at peace.”

Aoi moved his head to gaze back at Aang. “Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you? Avatar Roku was much older than you but didn’t push away his emotions. He learned to work through them and be patient with himself in order to achieve self peace. If he can do that then you can too.”

“I feel like I’m letting people down,” Aang admits, looking at the grey statue erected before him. 

“Everyone is entitled to their feelings. If people feel that you let them down then those are their feelings to bare. But what matters is how you feel,” Aoi placed a hand over Aang’s chest. “If you have fought hard and tried your best then you have done everything you can. You can rest knowing that while some may not like your decisions, they do not get to tell you how to feel.”

Aang lets out a tiny smile at Aoi, relief flooding through his body. “Really?”

“Nobody but you know how to feel. Emotion is not a weakness and while not everybody may like you, you are doing a fantastic job at being the Avatar and I am proud of you,” Aoi finished and Aang darts forward, thrusting his arms around Aoi’s waist and burying his face into Aoi’s stomach. 

“Sadness teaches us to be grateful for the things we have while anger can protect us. Fear can save us from going too far and shame can remind you that you are human,” Aoi continues, one hand on Aang’s back while the other softly stroked Aang’s head. “Like we need a balance of the four nations, we need a balance of emotion to remind us that we are alive.” 

The Fire Lord and the Avatar stand there in the temple, embracing under the flickering of the torches that cast a warm glow on the statue of Aang’s predecessor. 

And each are reminded of what it means to be human. 


	2. Zuko

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko comes to Aoi and confesses something that his tutor has done to him.

“Aoi,” Zuko is standing in the doorway of his office and Aoi looks up at him. 

Zuko holds himself tall and with an air of formality that Aoi has never required of him. 

“Come in,” Aoi nods and Zuko enters. “What’s wrong?”

Zuko is quiet, his eyes roaming over the paintings on the wall as he ever-so-slightly rocks on his feet. 

“Zuko?” Aoi prompts again. “You can tell me anything.”

Aoi watches Zuko swallow hard. “You said…”

Aoi waits as Zuko tries to get his words in order. 

“Do you… do you remember when you were crowned and got custody of me and Azula?” Zuko blurts.

Aoi blinks at the random question. “Of course I do.”

“When you oversaw our teaching,” Zuko continued. “With Master Tao. You saw him…”

“Your tutor hurt you,” Aoi finished when it became clear that Zuko wasn’t going to. He didn’t like where this conversation was going. He sets his work aside and stands up, moving towards his brother. “What are you trying to tell me?”

Zuko hesitates. 

“Zuko,” Aoi grasps Zuko’s chin between two fingers and tilts his brother’s head up. “Tell me.”

Zuko’s hand reached up to cover Aoi’s and gently brought it down before he hesitates and then guides Aoi’s hand to his torso.

Aoi frowns as he feels an uneven texture under his brother's tunic. Aoi grasped the bottom of Zuko’s top and pulled it up to reveal what Zuko wouldn’t mention. 

He’s staring at cotton bandages wrapped around Zuko’s torso, bruising peeking out from the edges of the worn bandage. 

“Zuzu, what happened?” Aoi questioned softly, his hand ghosting over where the bandage was tucked before he grabbed the end and unwound the bandage to see the full damage. 

“It was Master Jueng,” Zuko murmured. “He did it so you wouldn’t see.”

Zuko’s face crumpled when Aoi looked up to his face. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Aoi gently pulled Zuko into his arms as his younger brother cried. “It’s not your fault.”

“I couldn’t get the form right,” Zuko wept into Aoi’s robe. 

“Nobody should hurt you. It doesn’t matter whatever reason they may have. If they have a problem then they should talk,” Aoi’s voice was firm but soft. “I’m proud of you coming to me with this. I will handle it, I promise. Do you want to be there?”

Zuko blinked at the question, sniffling. “I have a choice?”

“Somebody hurt you, Zuko. You have a right to stand up to them if you want. There is no shame in not wanting to,” Aoi promised as he ran his fingers through his baby brother’s unruly hair. 

“I… want to be there,” Zuko decides. 

Aoi nods. “Okay. Come, we’ll go to the infirmary and rest for a few days. I’ll go with you to your next lesson.”

Aoi guides Zuko down to the infirmary and watches as the healer applies a healing balm to Zuko’s torso. 

When it came time for Zuko’s next lesson, Aoi guided Zuko towards the courtyard where he usually practiced. He sees Azula finish her set with her tutor before Zuko’s tutor appears. 

“Why are you watching?” Azula asked, skin glistening with sweat as she breathes heavily. 

“My tutor hurt me,” Zuko replied. 

Azula’s eyes narrow and she turns to look at where Master Jueng was. 

“I’ve got this,” Aoi promised, placing a hand onto Azula’s head. “Go inside and bathe.”

Azula blows a raspberry at Aoi when he ruffled her hair but reluctantly heads inside. 

“My lord,” Master Jueng takes a sweeping bow at Aoi. “What can I do for you?”

“It has come to my attention that you have broken the strict rules I set up for the safety of the heir to the throne,” Aoi stands tall. 

“Whatever makes you say that?” He denies it instantly. “Zuko is a liar who--”

“Prince Zuko--” Aoi interrupts loudly. “Has come to me with the issue.” 

Taking this as his sign to speak, Zuko steps up slightly behind his brother. “You kicked me when I was down and refused to help me correct my form. I don’t understand why.”

“You lie!” Master Jueng hisses and makes the mistake of darting forward with a hand raised. 

Aoi curled his fingers and jerked his hand as he bends Earth up the man’s legs to stop him in his place. The man jerks, tripping and the flames he had in his palm hits Aoi instead. 

Zuko stares, horrified as Aoi hisses and pats out the singed part of his robe that lay over part of his scars. 

“You have committed a crime against my and the heir. What do you have to say for yourself?” Aoi demands, his voice deep. It sent shivers down Zuko’s spine and he was glad that the voice had never been aimed at him or his sister. 

“The little brat deserves everything he gets towards him including that scar on his face!” Master Jueng spits. 

Zuko flinches. Not only at the jab but because he knew that outright treason like this was punished by execution. 

“Guards,” Aoi called and they surrounded Master Jueng. “Take him to the dungeon to be executed at nightfall.”

Aoi moved his hand again and the Earth creeped back into place as the guards wrestled the screaming man out of the courtyard. 

“Zuko, are you alright?” Aoi peered at Zuko in concern. 

“He’s going to die,” Zuko’s mouth feels dry. “I did that.”

“You did nothing of the sort,” Aoi snapped and Zuko flinched. “You listen to me, that man thought that it was okay to hurt a child. He had no qualms with inflicting pain to someone who he had a position of authority over. This is not your fault.”

“But if I hadn’t told--” Zuko tries. 

“Think for a moment that this man had tutored Azula and left bruises upon her skin,” Aoi interrupted Zuko. “It doesn’t matter who he teaches. I have made the choice to execute him. If his death is on any of us then it is on me.”

“You didn’t have to,” Zuko weakly protests. 

Aoi softens and wraps his arm around Zuko’s shoulder, pulling him into a hug. “You’re my baby brother, Zuzu. I’ll always be here to keep you safe.”

“I was scared you wouldn’t do anything,” Zuko confesses, burying his face into his brother’s shoulder. “That like Father, you would punish me for telling.”

“I will not, nor will I ever be anything like him,” Aoi swore. “You and Azula are the greatest things to ever happen to me and I will forever love you two.”

“Even if we do something bad?” Zuko questioned. 

“Even if you lose your way,” Aoi promised. 


	3. Azula

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Aoi was thirteen, Azula approached him for help for the first time.

When Aoi was thirteen, Azula came to him for the first time seeking his help. She had barged into his room while he was reading a scroll.

“Aoi,” Azula hissed, eyes wide with fear. “I broke a vase.”

“Which one?” Aoi sits up, setting the scroll he was reading down. 

“The gold one by the throne room,” Azula confessed. 

Aoi knew of the very vase she spoke of. It was a beloved artifact of fire nation culture. 

Aoi leaves the scroll, standing and moving swiftly to Azula’s side. “Go to your room and don’t come out until a servant comes to get you for supper. I’ll deal with this.”

Azula relaxes with relief, nodding, and scurrying off and Aoi moves to the scene of the crime. 

No servant had dared to touch the priceless vase that Ozai and Ursa were so fond of. 

Aoi conjured a rock up with his bending and tossed it a few times with his hand before he broke the vase more with a well-aimed throw from the rock. 

General Zhao found him and marched the boy to the fire lord. Aoi had been there for barely a year and still wasn’t quite seen as a prince yet. 

Zhao announced what Aoi had done and then left the boy at Ozai’s command. 

Aoi admits that he had broken the vase. He had gotten careless with his bending. 

Ozai rises from his throne and his hands curled around the collar of Aoi’s robe, yanking the boy to his tip-toes. Ozai’s fingers burned at his robe, causing smolders that singed the fine hairs on Aoi’s neck. 

Aoi takes his punishment. He braces for every hit and shake, getting up when he is pushed down. 

Until he can no longer get up. The throne room tilts and his vision is tinted red with blood from a gnash in his eyebrow. His legs shake with fatigue and his arms crumple under his weight when he tries to push himself up. 

Ozai is finally satisfied. But, for good measure, he grabs Aoi’s hands in his and holds them tightly, summoning heat to his palms until Aoi is squirming in pain at the burning in his hands. 

“That will teach you to bend carelessly,” Ozai sneers, letting Aoi’s hands go so that the boy falls to the ground in exhaustion, cradling his red hands to his chest as he heaves for air between teary whimpers. “Get out of my sight.”

Aoi manages a pitiful bow before he forces himself to trembling legs and stumbles out of the throne room. 

The servants take pity on him and help him to the infirmary where his wounds are treated. 

Aoi misses dinner that night. A healer sneaks him bread and water for he cannot heal if he’s hungry. 

Aoi leaves the infirmary and heads back to his room. He gets a servant to help him undress since his bandaged hands cannot manage the clasps and buttons on his uniform. He denies a nightshirt, his neck still too sore from the singed collar, and ribs bruised from angry kicks. 

He lay in bed until Azula came into his room, the sun was long gone as night descended. 

“Bobo?” Azula whispers, creeping to his bedside. “Bobo?”

“I’m here,” Aoi replied and rolled over to face Azula whose face grew with panic. 

“Did Daddy do that to you?” The eight-year-old questioned in barely concealed horror. 

“I’m fine,” Aoi replied, moving to make room for his younger sister. “I took care of it.”

“He really hurt you,” Azua comments, clambering up onto the bed to sit next to Aoi. “Does it hurt?” Her tiny fingers barely trailed over the cut on his forehead. 

“Barely,” Aoi lied, giving her a small smile. “It’s done and over with.”

“I didn’t know he’d hurt you that much. He wouldn’t have hurt me like that,” Azula frowned. “I shouldn’t have told you.”

“I’m your brother,” Aoi huffed, reaching up a bandaged finger to poke her stomach. “That’s what brothers are for.”

“Zuzu’s never taken the fall for me,” Azula comments, folding her arms to protect her stomach from Aoi’s wandering fingers. 

“I’m his brother now too, that means I take the fall for both of you,” Aoi replied, wincing when Azula flopped over to lay on top of him and hitting a sore spot on his ribs. “Never be afraid to come to me. I will help you.”

“Even if I do horrible things?” Azula inquired before hesitantly tacking on, “Even if I’m a monster?”

“You’re not a monster and you don’t do horrible things,” Aoi reassured her, gingerly wrapping his arms around her body. “Sure, you can make bad choices but that doesn’t make you a bad person.”

“I’ve burned the turtle-ducks,” Azula points out. 

“You learned not to,” Aoi counters. 

“I’ve pushed Zuzu into the fountain,” Azula continues. 

“Nothing,” Aoi squeezed her, cutting off her rant. “Will ever make me hate you. You are my sister.”

“Yes, well,” Azula sighed, pressing her face into his shoulder. He can feel her mumble something into his shoulder and a grin grows on his face as he deciphered what she had said. 

The mumbled ‘You are my brother’ was the first time Azula had acknowledged the adoption and that Aoi was indeed her brother now. 

“I love you,” Aoi replied softly, knowing that Azula won’t reply. Ozai had taught them that love was weak but he had not yet taught them how not to love. 

Aoi knows that Azula loves him back, even if she doesn’t say it.


	4. Toph

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph grew up with parents too afraid to touch her. Aoi makes it his mission to show her all the affection she missed out on.

Toph, as Aoi discovered, was touch-starved. She acted high and mighty as if she hated it when Sokka slung an arm around her shoulder or when Katara would wrap her in a tight hug. 

But Aoi knew better. He had grown up with touch-starved siblings. Spirits, he himself was touch-starved when he was younger. 

So, shortly after Aoi formally adopts Toph, he makes it his mission to get her used to comforting touches. 

Any time he was near her, he would place his hand somewhere on her body. Most of the time it was his hand simply resting on her head or shoulder but sometimes he would sling an arm around her and press her to his side. 

Toph resisted his touches at first but gradually sank into whatever touch Aoi offered. 

Then there was the palace ball. An annual ball to celebrate Agni. 

Aoi watches fondly as the eight children all dress up in fine robes, clean from the dirt that they liked to roll around in. 

Aoi gets asked to dance by many young noble ladies that were arrogant enough to think that the Fire Lord would dance with them. Aoi turned each one of them down and instead chose to dance with his kids. 

He used to dance with Azula at balls when they were younger. It saved each of them from having to dance with some random noble child who liked them a little more than proper. So the first dance, Aoi always saved for Azula. 

Aoi would then coax Zuko to dance. Zuko used to pout as he took the part of the woman in the dance but Aoi’s exaggerated twirls and spins would soon have him laughing in no time. 

Ty Lee liked to do complicated dances with jumps and flips that would often end with Aoi and her stumbling over themselves from laughing too hard. Mai liked simple waltzes with easy movements. 

“Hey,” Aoi approached Toph, who sulked in the corner of the ball. Aoi had told his kids that they didn’t have to go to the ball but each promised to go there to support him. 

Toph looked up at him.

“Are you alright?” Aoi double-checked, knowing that sometimes, too large of a crowd would overwhelm the blind girl. 

Toph shrugged. 

“Would you dance with me?” Aoi asked, extending his hand out towards her. 

“I dunno how to dance. It was expected of me being blind that I couldn’t dance at all,” Toph admits, chin tilted towards his hand as she thought. 

“Then let me do all the dancing. Please?” Aoi gives his hand a little shake for emphasis and Toph finally nods, reaching out for his hand. 

Aoi pulled her out into the crowd where other people were dancing. 

“Come here,” Aoi pulled Toph up into his arms. “Hold onto me.”

Toph wrapped her little arms around Aoi’s neck and her feet hook around his waist. She had refused to wear a dress but conceded to wearing nicer robes. 

Aoi does most of the dancing but he sways them around the dance floor and dares to stick his finger into her side where he knows she is ticklish. 

Toph half-heartedly slaps his hand away as she laughs and Aoi dips her. 

Aoi could still act proper with the others even if they ended up laughing like idiots. But Aoi was dancing for both of them so he lets himself go and twirls them around like he himself was twelve again. 

The songs eventually slow but they keep dancing through that too. Nobody dared to interrupt Aoi to ask for a slow dance. 

Toph eventually rests her head onto his shoulder through a particularly slow song as Aoi gently sways them in place. 

“Why do you do this?” Toph eventually mumbled, her arms lazily draped over Aoi’s shoulders. 

“Do what?” Aoi hummed.

“Keep touching me,” Toph replied. “You keep putting a hand on my head or shoulder or carry me around. Why?”

“Because I want to. If it bothers you, I can stop. You only have to ask,” Aoi tells her, passing by a group of girls that stare at Toph with jealousy. 

Toph’s legs tighten around his waist. “Too late. You made your choice,” Toph mumbled. Aoi grins and twirls them gently to start slowly dancing in the other direction. 

“I like this,” Toph finally taps her fingers onto Aoi’s robes as her legs let his waist go to dangle at his sides. “‘S nice.”

“Did you dad ever dance with you like this?” Aoi can’t help but question gently. 

“Pfft,” Toph scoffed. “Nope. My parents seemed afraid to touch me most of the time.” 

“I am known to be a touchy person, especially with my siblings. If you need me to back off then I can,” Aoi offered, spotting Zuko and Mai dancing in the crowd of people. 

“Nah,” Toph declined as though she was doing Aoi a favor by letting him touch her. 

The night keeps going and the crowd thins as people take their children and sleepy loved ones home. 

Aoi’s feet ache a little at this point, having danced for hours. But Toph is sleepily draped in his arms, and doesn’t seem like she’s going to let go anytime soon. Her face is tucked in the crook of Aoi’s neck and he can feel soft puffs of air against his scarred skin as she breathes. 

“Aoi?” Toph’s voice is thick with sleep. Aoi hums in acknowledgment. “Why did you adopt me?”

Aoi blinks down at her in surprise. “I’m not too sure. It just felt right. I hate parents who don’t seem to know how to raise their children.”

“Azula said you’re kinda like her dad, even though you’re her brother,” Toph continued. “She told me you do all the things that dads do. My dad never did any of those things. You do.”

Aoi listens to her. 

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m a bit confused,” Toph finally finished. “What do I call you? In positions of power, it would be Lord Aoi. The others call you Aoi but you didn’t formally adopt them.”

“You can call me whatever you feel comfortable calling me,” Aoi had Zuko slip up and call him ‘dad’ once. The boy was mortified and avoided Aoi for days. 

“Well, I already got plenty of big brothers and sisters,” Toph thinks out loud. “Katara is kinda like the mom of the group. So…” She paused, her fingers curling into Aoi’s robes. 

Aoi senses her uneasiness and stops swaying, resting his cheek onto her head and starting to rub her back instead. 

“Could I call you dad?” Toph finally blurts, her fingers clenched Aoi’s robes so tightly that Aoi was afraid that a hole would soon form. 

“Of course you can,” Aoi gently assured her. 

Toph was quiet, soaking up their conversation. Then Aoi can feel a little puff of air on his scarred neck. It takes a few moments for him to realize that Toph was whispering something. 

A few beats after he starts swaying them again, Aoi realized what Toph was whispering. 

Toph was whispering ‘dad’ under her breath, over and over again. 

The night eventually creeps to a close and Toph is dozing in his arms. Aoi gathers his kids as the last of the guests leave. 

“Did you guys have fun?” Aoi asked them and they nod with sleepy yawns and cheesy grins. “Alright. It’s really late. It’s time for bed.”

Nobody protests as Aoi herds them back into the palace and into their room. 

Aoi stops by Toph’s room last and moves to set the girl down in her bed when Toph wraps her arms around his neck tightly. 

“Thank you,” Toph murmurs. “Goodnight, dad.”

Aoi can’t help the grin that split on his face. 

“It was of no trouble,” Aoi promised, setting Toph down and pulling the sheets over her. “Goodnight, my daughter.”


End file.
